Some predecessors kept their nerve, others lost their heads

By Andrew Sparrow

12:00AM BST 28 Oct 2000

ONE name certain to be mentioned next Monday when MPs choose someone to replace Betty Boothroyd is Speaker Lenthall.

He was in the chair when King Charles I burst into the chamber in 1642 to arrest five members for treason and his reply to the monarch is still quoted as the archetypal assertion of Parliament's independence.

The King asked where the traitors were and Lenthall replied: "May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." It was a polite version of "Get lost" and the King left empty handed.

Many of the Speakers who have held office since the title was created in 1377 did not live up to the example set by Lenthall. The Speaker's job was to preside over the meetings of those commoners gathered together to advise the King and some of Betty Boothroyd's predecessors acted principally as agents for the Palace.

Others were more outspoken, but this approach carried its own risks. Between 1399, when Sir John Bussy met his end, and 1535, when Sir Thomas More fell out with the Executive, seven men who had held the office of Speaker were beheaded. An eighth was murdered and a ninth was killed in battle.

In the 18th century the Speaker was associated with the Government and often held office. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that it became normal for the Speaker to be above party.

Some MPs believe that there is now a convention that the Speaker should come from the Opposition benches, as Miss Boothroyd did when she was elected in 1992. But in fact she was the only Opposition MP in the 20th century to be dragged to the chair to uphold the Lenthall tradition.

The introduction of radio broadcasts from the Commons in the late Seventies and television broadcasts in the late Eighties has turned the Speaker into a media celebrity. However, as Tony Benn reminded the Commons in the debate before the election of Miss Boothroyd, the Speaker wields many other formidable powers.

Mr Benn said: "Apart from keeping order, the Speaker can allow or disallow questions to ministers, and thus expose or protect them; accept or refuse closure motions, which can prolong or stop debates; select or reject backbench motions or amendments, and thus deny a minority view in the House from ever being put in the lobby; permit or deny private notice questions or emergency debates; and give or withhold precedence to privy counsellors, which is the source of much anger."

"He can determine which Bills are hybrid and which are not; use a casting vote if there is a tie; recall the Commons in a recess in the event of some international crisis; certify a money Bill; and rule on matters of privilege."